Saturday, July 17, 2004

Lions and Tigers and Bears, II

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a little entry about a bear that was on the loose in a Virginia hospital. This story involves an escaped Tiger in Florida. This did make the national news, so perhaps some of you heard about this. But, it's bizarre enough that I just had to include it here.

Steve Sipek, a B-movie actor who once played Tarzan, owns a tiger at his house in Palm Beach County, Florida. The 600 pound tiger's name was Bobo. Earlier this week, Bobo escaped from Sipek's house and was on the loose overnight. Bobo was declawed, but still had tiger teeth and instincts. Authorities tried to catch the jungle cat, but Bobo proved to be quite elusive.

Enter Linda Meredith. Meredith lived nearby and owned a 5-month old, Yorkshire piglet. Ms. Meredith decided that she and her porker could be of assistance to the police in their pursuit of Bobo. Meredith put her piggy in her Cadillac and drove to the place where Bobo was cornered. Meredith told police to hold the pig by it's hind legs or pull its ear a little in order to get the pig to squeal. Meredith believed that this would lure Bobo the tiger out into the open. The police were not enthused by this plan and sent Meredith on her way.

This is when things go south for everyone involved. Meredith put the pig back in the trunk of her Caddie and headed towards home. On her way home, however, Meredith was stopped by Animal Care and Control. She now faces animal cruelty charges for putting the pig in the trunk on a hot day. Meredith contends that the trunk of her car is actually air conditioned.

"I can't believe they have the gall," Meredith told the Palm Beach Post. "I was just trying to help the tiger find his way back home. Apparently, it's not nice to be nice." But, the real irony is that Meredith was only raising the pig till it was big enough to kill and eat.

Oh yeah, and Bobo was eventually shot to death by a policeman with an M4 rifle.